Preface
During the Ming Dynasty, the battle of Jingyan made Zhu Yuanzhang's system fall into the hands of Zhu Di, but behind this was inseparable from the help of a monk.
This person is Yao Guangxiao, although he is dedicated to Buddhism, he kills people, so he is also known as the "black-clothed prime minister", so how did Yao Guangxiao become Zhu Di's henchman from a monk?
How did he help Zhu Di plan behind the scenes and ascend to the throne step by step? Zhu Di also took a lot of care of this hero who helped him ascend to the throne when he was seriously ill.
asked him what his last words were, but the old monk said, "Please spare my sworn enemy Pu Qia." "So who is this Pu Qia? Why did Yao Guangxiao's last words only mention this person?
1. Ministers of Assistantship Wait for the opportunity
Yao Guangxiao was born in a medical family, and the Yao family is also quite famous in the local area, but life is not smooth, and the elders of the family also hope that Yao Guangxiao can inherit the mantle of the family.
However, Yao Guangxiao was not determined to do this, and was unwilling to just be a doctor who hung a pot to help the world, so he simply handed over the burden of the family to his brother.
At the age of fourteen, he chose to shave his hair and become a monk and take refuge in Buddhism, but Yao Guangxiao is not a peaceful person, nor is he devout to Buddha.
Yao Guangxiao successively studied Tiantai, Esoteric Buddhism, etc., and later chose to convert to Zen. In addition to studying Buddhism, he also studied classics such as Taoism and Confucianism, and in his youth, Yao Guangxiao once worshipped the famous Taoist priest Ying Zhen at that time to learn yin and yang.
In addition, he also had contacts with Song Lian, Gao Qi and others, and often discussed Confucianism together, so from this point of view, Yao Guangxiao is not a Buddhist believer who is devout to Buddhism, but a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
This laid the foundation for his future development, in addition, Yao Guangxiao also paid attention to the world's major events, the situation was turbulent in the late Yuan Dynasty, and the troubled times were heroic, so Yao Guangxiao paid attention to the forces in various places.
Compared with ordinary people, Yao Guangxiao is more prepared, so what he is waiting for is just an opportunity, and when the time comes, it will be the time for him to become a big thing.
Yao Guangxiao had snow in Songshan Temple in his early years, and a scholar named Yuan Heng said after looking at his face: "How can there be a monk with such a peculiar appearance, with triangular eye sockets, a body like a sick tiger, and a natural penchant for killing, who is the same person as Liu Bingzhong." ”
So what kind of person is Liu Bingzhong? Liu Bingzhong was actually a monk in the late Southern Song Dynasty, his legal name was Zicong, although he was only a monk, he was very wise and was appreciated by Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty.
Liu Bingzhong, who was reused, offered advice to Kublai Khan to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty, and finally helped Kublai Khan sit on the throne and became the prime minister.
Helping Kublai Khan unify the Central Plains was undoubtedly the founding hero of the Yuan Dynasty. But Liu Bingzhong's reputation among the people is not good, and Yao Guangxiao is very satisfied with comparing Yao Guangxiao to a person like Liu Bingzhong.
Instead of getting angry, he took Liu Bingzhong as a role model, and wanted to become a person like Liu Bingzhong and assist a generation of Ming lords to establish a new dynasty.
In the middle of the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered monks who were proficient in Confucian scriptures to be admitted to the Ministry of Rites, and Yao Guangxiao also wanted to take this opportunity to embark on a career in office, but because Yao Guangxiao's thoughts were still contrary to the content of the imperial court assessment, although he was not awarded an official position, he was given a robe by Zhu Yuanzhang.
2. Help Zhu Di ascend to the throne
In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Empress Gao died, and Ming Taizu chose senior monks to serve the princes and pray for them. At that time, Yao Guangxiao met Zhu Di, the king of Yan, and had a good conversation with him under the recommendation of a friend.
Later, he followed Zhu Di to Beiping and was arranged by Zhu Di to be the host of Qingshou Temple. If it is said that just because the two of them had a good conversation at that time, it is unlikely that Zhu Di will keep him by his side.
It's because of what Yao Guangxiao said to Zhu Di: "The king's envoys have to serve, and they offer a white hat for the king to wear." Yao Guangxiao means this: "If I can serve by your side, I will definitely be able to put you on the throne." "After all, Zhu Di was already the king of Yan at this time, and wearing a white hat on the throne was the throne.
Yao Guangxiao's words sound a little incredible to anyone, after all, Zhu Yuanzhang had already set up the crown prince - Zhu Biao at that time, and it was impossible for Zhu Di to take the throne no matter what.
But Zhu Di's ambition is also relatively big, even if he knows that there is little hope, he still puts Yao Guangxiao by his side. Later, Zhu Biao died unexpectedly, which caused turmoil on the throne, but soon Zhu Yuanzhang passed the crown prince to the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen.
It was at this time that Yao Guangxiao waited for the opportunity, and the battle of Jingyan followed. After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, in order to consolidate his power and the rule of his descendants, he conferred a total of 25 clan members as vassal kings and let them be stationed in various places.
Although these feudal lords had no real power in their respective territories, they had escorts, ranging in strength from 3,000 to 1,900.
Among them, nine border kings were stationed in the northern border areas, including King Yan, who had greater military power, but due to the early death of Zhu Biao, the crown prince, and Zhu Yunwen, the imperial grandson, sat on the throne of the crown prince, it was inevitable that the vassal kings would have a change in their hearts.
According to the generation, Zhu Yunwen is the nephew of these vassal kings, and he sits in this position, and he also feels faintly uneasy, especially since his power is far less powerful than that of the vassal king, which is a threat to his position as the crown prince.
So he began to implement the policy of cutting the domain, after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, as soon as Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he made a drastic cut, and the king of Zhou, the king of Xiang and others were convicted, and were removed from the throne or demoted to a concubine.
For a while, everyone in the vassal kings was in danger, and at this time, Yao Guangxiao secretly persuaded Zhu Di to raise troops, and Zhu Di said: "Now that the people's hearts are towards the court, what can we do?" ”
Yao Guangxiao did not directly answer Zhu Di's question, but said to him: "I only know that the will of heaven is like this, so why should I care about the people's hearts!" Yao Guangxiao's words undoubtedly gave Zhu Di a dose of tranquilizer.
Let Zhu Di rest assured that he can raise troops to raise troops, undoubtedly telling him the results of his ability to raise troops and be able to sit on the throne, which makes Zhu Di more confident.
3. Last words Let go of Pu Qia
So Zhu Di decided to raise troops and launched the Battle of Jingjing, Zhu Di was outside to prepare for the military generals to raise troops, while Yao Guangxiao acted as Zhu Di's strategist, helping Zhu Di train soldiers and build weapons in the Yanwang Mansion.
In order to prevent being listened to by people with intentions, he also used the cries of poultry to cover up the sound of weapons in the courtyard for chickens, ducks and geese.
Although Yao Guangxiao did not follow Zhu Di to the battlefield, the efforts and plans made behind the scenes cannot be erased, it can be said that Zhu Di was able to ascend to the throne of God King, which is indispensable for Yao Guangxiao's contributions.
After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he originally thought that he would be like Liu Bingzhong, and he would become a minister of Zaifu and assist the emperor in governing the world, but Yao Guangxiao did not do so.
Zhu Di also persuaded him to return to the vulgar, Yao Guangxiao's common name was given by Zhu Di, not only gave him a mansion, but also arranged many beauties for him, but at this time, Yao Guangxiao, who was close to the age of ancient times, had already seen through the red dust and didn't care about these things outside his body.
Yao Guangxiao rejected Zhu Di's arrangements, and still lived in the Buddhist temple, but he had the false position of a prince and young master, and wore official clothes to discuss court politics when he went to the court, and continued to wear a robe after retiring from the court.
Until 1418, Yao Guangxiao, who was 83 years old at this time, came to his twilight years, and when he was dying, Zhu Di came to visit him and asked him what his last wishes were, and Yao Guangxiao said: "Let go of my sworn enemy Pu Qia." ”
This person is the monk who helped Zhu Yunwen get out when Zhu Di initiated the Jing Rebellion, Zhu Yunwen later disappeared, but Pu Qia was arrested and imprisoned for 16 years, tortured, and never revealed the slightest news about Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Di tried everything he could, but he couldn't find Zhu Yunwen, but who would have thought that Yao Guangxiao's final wish was to let Zhu Di let him go, Zhu Di looked at this hero who helped him win the world, and finally agreed to his request.
epilogue
Although Pu Qia and Yao Guangxiao are political enemies, they are just following their own masters and choosing differently, if the people they follow succeed, one of them will definitely lose and become a prisoner, but Yao Guangxiao has to be said to be a strange person, and he was able to retire in the end and die a good death.